


Work in progress

by Lillian Jo (troublemakerdim)



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Character Study, Cheating, JeongHoon bffs, Jeonghan and Mingyu were married, Lee Jihoon has many existential crises, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Power Couple Woncheol, Seokhoon endgame, Slice of Life, Yoon Jeonghan resident Angel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 16:14:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20294332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/troublemakerdim/pseuds/Lillian%20Jo
Summary: In the span of two weeks, Lee Jihoon discovers quite some things about himself, which triggers quite a few existential crises. Not to mention, he might have a growing crush on his colleague. So it's not really the best time for him, or is it?Alternatively, Lee Jihoon goes on a less than conventional self-discovery journey, makes mistakes and learns thanks to his friends.





	Work in progress

Okay so Jihoon might have a problem.

Actually, scratch that, he definitely has a problem, and not just one problem, he has several of those, all ranging from ‘can’t find my hair brush’ to ‘I most definitely just drank very bad milk AND I am lactose intolerant and will regret this tomorrow morning’.

That aside, Jihoon has issues. A lot of them, and usually, he can deal with them just fine. He’s a pretty calm and collected person, so people come to him when they’re panicked and screaming. Not that he can actually help them. He said he was calm and collected, not helpful and insightful, okay?

Nonetheless, recently, it’s come to Jihoon’s attention that there are quite some things that he didn’t know about himself. You learn something new every day they say, some of those things just happen to be about yourself. The blond would argue that, that’s not normal. He should have gone through that whole self discovering bullshit during puberty, because what else was all that anger and emotional frustration about other than getting to understand yourself, but clearly he was very very very wrong.

First of all, he was drinking coffee when it all came to him. He was messaging Jeonghan, waiting for him to come and join him for some coffee, when he saw this guy come in. So this guy was fine, but he had two guys next to him, and they were all acting really damned close. So of course, his first thought was ‘What the fuck?’ followed by ‘What the fuck?’ followed by ‘Is this red haired dude with the tall one or the other one?’ and then the kid kissed both of them on the mouth and that’s when Jihoon’s brain short-circuited.

Jeonghan had come a few minutes later, when Jihoon was still assessing this situation because he had just discovered…that you could date more than one person? Jeonghan of course, being the absolute flower he is, asks. Jihoon wouldn’t have actually said anything if it weren’t for how absolutely curious he was. However, he has a sense of self preservation, so instead he turns his phrase in a way that shows he’s kind of put off.

“These three are dating.” Jeonghan raises an eyebrow and looks back to where Jihoon’s head is motioning. The three are now cuddling. Does no one have any sense of decency in this day and age?

“Oh, well they must be polyamourous.” And okay, Jeonghan said it in a way that implied he knew too much, way too much about this subject. So first, Jihoon stocks the word away in his mind, and then he raises an eyebrow to Jeonghan as a silent question.

Jeonghan shrugs and doesn’t say anything for a while, instead he goes to order a drink for himself. He comes back a few minutes later.

“Do you have a problem with them or something?” Is the first thing the other asks but Jihoon only shrugs the question off and asks about work and how Chan is doing. They keep talking like that for a while, before Jihoon has to go back home to finish a project for work.

And see, the thing is, Jihoon absolutely does not have a problem with this. It’s actually the absolute contrary, he’s very interested in this subject. He would’ve loved to know this was a thing in High school, when he had a huge crush on two completely different guys. Because knowing you were not straight wasn’t already enough of an issue, he had to go through the emotional conflict of thinking he was some kind of romance whore.

He curses, because that was so many existential crises for absolutely nothing. Why did feelings exist anyways?

So sure, at first he was fine, but as soon as he got home and read about it, he did go through a mini breakdown because he’s 25 and he’s only just discovering he’s a homosexual polyamourous man. If any of his friends had come over, they wouldn’t have noticed anything unusual, but Jihoon had essentially not left his bed the entire afternoon after that and was just pondering for hours on end on what the fuck he’d been missing all those years ago.

And because his life isn’t already enough of a big fat joke, Jihoon discovers a lot of other things in the upcoming weeks of his pathetic 25 yrs’ olds’ life. It’s only just the beginning. The week that follows is an absolute hell-sent week. He struggles a lot with finishing reports and videos edits for his job. Not only that, but his perfectionist side keeps telling him he made absolute shit.

And then he gets to his office late two times in that same week, which doesn’t make things good for his very clean record. He gets called in by his boss, Seungcheol, who ever so kindly asks what the fuck is up. And okay, sure, Jihoon could’ve just went ahead and said things were a bit difficult as of late, but instead, that very day, he burst into tears in front of his boss.

Any other co-worker it would’ve been fine. But he’s Lee Jihoon, he doesn’t fucking cry!

Seungcheol had been taken so aback and had left his desk to pat the older’s back, telling him things would be okay. That was his first mistake, because then, Jihoon just vomited that he was going through an emotional crisis because he found out he was polyamourous.

Is that actually something you can tell your boss? No. But he did it.

So Jihoon has a polyamoury induced existential crisis AND could get fired by his boss now. Perfect!

Where did his calm and collected self go when he needed it?

He doesn’t get fired though, because Seungcheol chuckles instead and tells him it was fine. That he and his husband also had that problem when discovering they were poly in the beginning but that it worked out fine in the end. And that gets Jihoon to think, damn, my boss is a god-sent. But also damn, I’m not the only one in my group of acquaintances?

That puts off a huge load off his shoulders. Knowing that Seungcheol, and his husband Wonwoo were both poly just brought absolute joy to him.

So after that embarrassing incident, where Seungcheol ended up telling him to come over anytime if he needed help, ended; Jihoon encountered his second challenge.

A crush.

He’s sitting on his desk, when Wonwoo, comes over to him with a guy in tow. He looks around their age. Jihoon doesn’t actually see much of him, because his face is hidden behind a facemask, but he can tell enough of the character just by looking at the way he’s dressed.

Wonwoo stops in front of his desk and smiles down at him. Ever since the whole polyamoury breakdown/bounding moment with Seungcheol, the three of them have been hanging out a lot. He and Wonwoo especially got close, seeing as how similar their personalities are.

They spent a lot of weekends together playing games or just watching movies at the couple’s house. The two were fun and friendly and while Wonwoo could be a little off-putting at first with his cold façade he was actually very mischievous and liked joking around quite a bit.

“Jihoon, we have a new kid in, Seungcheol wants you to help him get started. He’s taking the desk next to yours.” The kid in question removes his mask and greets Jihoon and oh.

Okay.

Haha.

Everything is absolutely okay.

The guy is exactly Jihoon’s type. He’s a little buff but has an absolutely adorable face and his cheeks seem to be incredibly soft. Jihoon tells himself that he needs to tone down the gay, seriously, before it gets weird, and introduces himself to the other.

“Lee Jihoon” He tries to come off as nonchalant as possible.

“Kwon Soonyoung.” Jihoon nods and Wonwoo leaves right then. Soonyoung puts a small backpack on the desk next to Jihoon’s and begins putting his things on it. Not a lot, but enough to make it homey. There’s a lot of nerd shit, which matches with Jihoon’s own desk aesthetic.

“You like black panther?”

Soonyoung nods and does the damn sign before smiling at him and saying ‘Wakanda forever’. Jihoon melts on the spot.

And so that’s how it starts off, they get to know each other, Jihoon shows him the ropes, they spend a lot of extra hours together trying to get Soonyoung in touch with all the programs they use, funnily enough the kid’s absolutely clueless when it comes to technology. All this time together only feeds into Jihoon’s crush though. He doesn’t know it’s a crush, he only thinks he finds the other hot, and it all comes to him like a slap in the face one day.

They’re taking a break together, still at their desks. Soonyoung is watching a video and there a funny moment so he starts laughing very loudly. This startles Jihoon a little and he starts glaring at the other but the view just renders him speechless.

Why was this guy so beautiful when he smiled? His laugh was so contagious he could feel a smile etch its way on his face. 

If he could kiss him right there and-

Wait a second.

“I’m going to the bathroom” He hurries not paying attention to Soonyoung’s questioning look and goes straight to Wonwoo’s private office. The raven isn’t there, and he silently curses that his best friend isn’t there for emotional support. He hides, under the desk, and starts thinking.

‘Okay, it’s okay. You wouldn’t actually have kissed the guy. Plus, you barely know each other. And anyways, he’s probably not even gay. Wait that only makes things worse, you’ve got a crush on a straight guy. Oh my god Lee Jihoon you absolute dumbass. First the polyamory and now this? Why did it have to happen all in the same month?’

He starts cursing himself, and that’s when Wonwoo comes in and finds him well hidden.

“What are you doing here?” Jihoon’s ears become a very evident red and Wonwoo just knows.

He knows. He’s smirking and he knows and; he most definitely set this up.

“You didn’t do it on purpose did you?”

Wonwoo rolls his eyes but nods still. He did do in on purpose. Damn.

“So, it took you two weeks and 3 days to have a crush on him. Thank you Jihoon, Seungcheol now owes me 100$” The raven chuckles. Jihoon hates them. He can’t believe he called those two assholes his best friends. They made a bet over his feelings! He feels betrayed and with that he stomps out of the office.

Or he tries to, because just as he’s about to leave his spot from under the table, Wonwoo pushes him back down. He sits and he’s about to shout some profanities when he hears the door open.

Fuck it’s Soonyoung.

“Oh Soonyoung, how can I help you?” Wonwoo asks in that lovely tone of his, it’s so sweet and charming it could almost trick Jihoon. What a fucker.

“Oh well, Jihoon has been gone for like, 30 minutes and I’m starting to get worried. Did you see him?”

Wonwoo acts surprised, then tells Soonyoung he hasn’t seen Jihoon. Definitely not. And Jihoon really wants to kick him in the shin right now.

“Oh…do you know where he could be?”

Wonwoo smiles evilly, but Soonyoung doesn’t know that. Ignorance is bliss. 

“Oh he must be having another one of his emotional breakdowns at Seungcheol’s office, you know how he is, an absolute dramaqueen!” Wonwoo laughs a little, hiding his mouth with his hand.

“Oh…” is all Soonyoung says before leaving the office. He bows and gets out. Jihoon is going to strangle Wonwoo so bad.

“Why the fuck did you say that!?” Jihoon violently gets out from under the desk and is about to strangle Wonwoo but he’s stopped by another person coming through the door. It’s Seungcheol. Damnit!

“Uh…Am I interrupting something?”

The blond rolls his eyes and then proceeds to joke-choke Wonwoo who then plays dead on his chair. Seungcheol fake cries, and shouts that there has been a murder. Jihoon leaves the two, Seungcheol on the ground, laughing to tears and Wonwoo, head back and tongue lolled out on the chair. He knows they’re probably going to talk about his crush. He resents it.

Jihoon can’t do anything, about his crush he means. Because first of all, he has a sense of self-preservation; and two, he can’t risk ruining their relationship. They’re colleagues, he can’t just out and say he has a big fat crush on Soonyoung and not suffer awkwardness at their workplace afterwards.

And he knows, he knows he’s going to get rejected.

Soonyoung is either painfully straight, or he’s taken, or both and he doesn’t want to face heartbreak, it’s been emotionally intense as of late enough already.

So he suffers, in silence, as Soonyoung comes to work in those muscles tees, or as he laughs at some stupid meme online, or as he looks at Jihoon with that soft and adorable expression of his.

He never tells him, not even risking to do so, and he doesn’t let his guard down, ever. He knows he’s acting weird around the other. He knows the older noticed there’s a wall between them but the kid never says anything, so maybe he’s safe.

Wonwoo keeps telling him to confess, to just out and say it. It’ll help you he says, and he would, he really would, but he’s glad he never does. He thanks every star above his head for protecting his ass. That still doesn’t protect him from heartbreak.

That’s Jihoon’s third crisis.

It happened so fast now that he thinks about it. He was at his desk working, just minding his own business when Soonyoung arrives. He has a ring around his finger, the ring finger. He looks just as he always does, but now there’s a ring, silver, with a small stone on top of it. He usually has more self-preservation but he still asks.

“You got engaged?”

And Soonyoung gives him the most adorable and gorgeous smile he’s ever had the chance to witness. He looks beautiful, in every single way. It’s not supposed to, but it somehow breaks something in Jihoon. Of course, he was right. He was taken. And Jihoon that instance loathes himself. For being able to read people so well, but mostly, because he’s always right. He wishes, so deeply that he was wrong. But he wasn’t.

“Yeah, I proposed this weekend…” He looks sheepish.

“Who’s the lucky lady?” Jihoon keeps all the heartbreak and the storm that’s brewing inside of him at bay for now. He has a break in like 15 minutes. He can break down in Wonwoo’s office then.

“Oh, actually it’s a guy. His name is Junhui. I’d like you to meet him sometime” And Jihoon throws out something along the lines of ‘oh I’d love to’ and then he gets up and excuses himself.

He practically runs to Wonwoo’s office. The older is at his desk for once, and he’s typing away at his laptop. He doesn’t look up and just greets Jihoon and asks him what’s up. The blond never answers. He can’t.

When Wonwoo looks up, he finds Jihoon crouched in front of the door, sobbing violently. He has his arms around his head, in some kind of protective manner. The raven lurches out of his seat to go help his friend out. He holds him, caresses him back, whispers little nothings into his ear.

It takes 20 minutes to calm Jihoon down, but when it’s over he’s exhausted. He’s never cried this much. He’s lying onto Wonwoo, his head on the other’s shoulder. The raven asks, eventually, why he was crying so hard. Jihoon manages in barely a whisper.

“He’s engaged.”

He sees Wonwoo’s face scrunch and guilt wash over him and he almost wants to laugh. No one was at fault in this. Not Wonwoo, not Soonyoung, Not Junhui. No one, he was the only one who fucked up. So he turns to his friend and smiles.

“Don’t you fucking dare blame yourself, got it?” The raven silently nods.

“Okay…Come over tonight?”

“Okay.”

They spend an hour like that, just against each other, on the floor, near Wonwoo’s office door. Seungcheol comes eventually to invite Wonwoo for lunch but the other shushes him and Seungcheol just joins them and cuddles close to Jihoon, protective just like his husband.

He feels safe, even if It’s really painful right now.

It’s a few weeks and Jihoon is still trying to get over his stupid heartbreak. Soonyoung was moved into some other office, probably Wonwoo’s doing. He’s just looking out for him, so he doesn’t really say anything. He doesn’t need to say thank you, Wonwoo knows he appreciates it.

Soonyoung still talks to him, they talk on the phone often and sometimes they’ll hang out. He even gets to meet Junhui. The other is kind and a little awkward but nothing compared to how awkward Jihoon felt. They spend a great time together, even though the blond’s heart aches every time Soonyoung so much as looks at Junhui.

He looks at the other with so much adoration and love. It’s absolutely adorable, and wickedly painful.

He feels horrible, because deep inside, his ugly part wishes they would separate. The real him, the one he decides to show, is happy. He’s genuinely happy that Soonyoung found someone that makes him this happy.

It doesn’t get easier, but Jihoon gets better at tuning it all out. He gets over it, slowly. He thinks you don’t just stop liking someone, but sometime it’ll happen. Sometime, he’ll forget about ever liking Soonyoung. Sometime, he’ll be better.

Sad Jihoon is also distant Jihoon however, so he spends a lot of his free time alone. He doesn’t get to see Wonwoo and Seungcheol, or Jeonghan and his son anymore. He just stays home. The couple has enough of that at some point and they come over, uninvited, and tell him to get dressed and tell him they’re taking him out for a night of fun.

They’re dressed in matching outfits. Wonwoo is wearing a blue silk shirt and black pants while Seungcheol is in a white silk shirt and black pants. They’re look like they got dressed up to pick someone up at a bar but decided halfway through they’d pick Jihoon instead. Jihoon doesn’t really answer because he knows how they get when he says no.

They’re going to pester him all night so it’s easier if he just got it over with and left early than if he fought them to stay home and wallow in self-pity. Spotify was right, that uninterrupted pint of ice cream sounds like a dream right now. 

He gets dressed, in a black blouse and black pants and joins them. They look like they’re matching, like they belong together and it kind of makes Jihoon feel warm inside. He feels kind of safe when he’s with those two. He’s not afraid someone’s going to bother him, not when he has them.

“You look great Hoona” Wonwoo says and he smiles widely. “Come on, let’s go have some fun yeah?”

Jihoon nods and follows them. They go to a club and enjoy their evening together. The two jus stay with him, all night long. They never leave his side, protecting him from unwanted men, or getting him drinks when his is already done. They never go to dance, even though he can see Wonwoo’s expression every time a song he likes comes on, and Seungcheol never drinks more than he should, even though he loves getting hammered.

The night is lovely. They joke and laugh and chat and just, have fun. They get Jihoon to sleep over that night, and he sleeps on their couch but it’s great. He feels warm and content and even though he’s not much for going out he secretly wishes it’ll happen again.

The stars listen because that night isn’t the only time it happens.

Wonwoo and Seungcheol keep coming over, uninvited. The blond doesn’t mind. He likes it, he likes when they come over, in different levels of put together. Sometimes they stay over and sometime they go to some restaurant or bar or café and spend the evening there.

The smaller isn’t sure why they’re so intent on making him spend time with them, when they could have couple nights to themselves. But he never asks. He’s kind of selfish and he loves that they’re spending time together with him.

It’s great. It’s perfect. For the first time in a while, he smiles again. He doesn’t even think about Soonyoung, only of Wonwoo and Cheol.

Perhaps that’s how he’s reminded that he’s a fool.

An utter and complete dumbass. He’s definitely something else, and not in a good way.

He’s alone at home that night and he’s going through his gallery when he sees a picture he has of Wonwoo and Seungcheol. They’re smiling at the camera, holding hands, and giving out heart fingers. He remembers this picture. He took it himself, just after they had watched a movie together. It makes his heart flutter and he smiles like a fool all by himself. Until he’s not smiling and horror fills his gut. Yeah, he definitely fucked up.

Holy shit.

Holy shit.

Oh no.

Fuck.

It’s another slap in the face, how utterly foolish of him, to just let this happen.

Really? A crush on both of his bosses? His best friends? His _married_ best friends? Wow. Well Lee Jihoon, you definitely outdid yourself now! He laughs, hollow and fake, tired of being the way that he is. A fool, that’s what he is.

He groans, tossing his phone to the side and gets up to go wash his face, maybe get that feeling away from him. He’s an idiot, as if water was going to wash away his romantic feelings towards his two coworkers. Maybe he should go freelance, maybe he’s too sensitive to work with other people. First Soonyoung now this, he’s too dangerous.

A little part of him tries, but fails, to tell him that maybe he’s not alone in the feeling, that maybe Seungcheol and Wonwoo feel the same way seeing as how they were acting around him but, he quiets that thought. It couldn’t be. Because they’re his friends, of course they would act so kind towards him.

He can’t do this anymore. He’s so fucking tired, he thinks to himself as he lies in bed. He’s just looking up at the ceiling, thinking. He doesn’t want to get his hopes up, last time, it ended up with him breaking down in Wonwoo’s office. This time he wouldn’t be able to do that.

He’s going to just, give up. Love isn’t for him, he’s not made for it. He sighs to himself and tries to go to bed, but without really succeeding.

The next week is just a very intense week of him avoiding Seungcheol and Wonwoo and succeeding in doing so. He realizes he might have some talent because they barely even get the chance to see him to even ask him out, and when he’s home his phone is always off, so they can’t invite him out then either, he always ignores the knocks on the door too. Maybe he should try running away from the country, it would probably work out with how good he is at avoiding everyone.

He also manages to somehow block out Jeonghan, which on its own is an accomplishment considering how stubborn the older is. He doesn’t interact with anyone for an entire week. No one even bothers at some point, he can see, he can see from where his desk is that Wonwoo and Seungcheol are looking at him but he never raises his head to look back at them.

He tells himself that he’s doing this for them. He’s not being an asshole he just wants to protect them from him. They don’t want to be in a relationship with him so why would he do this to them? He doesn’t want them to hate him, or be grossed out by him. So he keeps this little charade up for a while, right up until he finds a little note on his desk.

‘Couldn’t reach you, meet me tonight in the café near the office?

-Soon’

And there’s a huge part of him that’s just saying ‘Hoe don’t do it’. Because anyone would know it’s a bad idea. He can’t afford to meet Soonyoung right now, not after this whole freaking crisis. He’s not in an emotional state to be around someone like Soonyoung.

But Jihoon is a fool, so he goes.

Soonyoung is standing by the door of the café when he gets there, he’s looking sullen, a little tired, a little sad. Worry starts flaring up inside Jihoon, he wonders what it is that must have happened. He quickly looks at Soonyoung’s hands, a part of him wondering if perhaps…and he’s right. There are no rings on his hands, just a mark on his ring finger.

“Soonyoung?” He asks outloud and the older turns and smiles at him, still looking as tired as ever.

“Are you okay?” The red head just nods and motions to get inside. They enter the café, order their drinks and sit down on one of the tables. It’s the one closest to the back of the café, there aren’t many patrons in at this time of day so it’s pretty quiet.

When Jihoon sits down and makes himself comfortable, the older starts talking.

“You’re probably wondering why I called you out so late at night…I’m really sorry I didn’t want to be alone. That’s all…” He sighs and closes his eyes, lolling his head back. “I had a huge fight with Junhui; and it’s all my fault…I just…he kept talking about going back to China and leaving for a whole year! A whole year Jihoon! I didn’t want him to and I told him to at least wait for me to get a job but he said he was going no matter what and then we got into a fight because I said he was selfish and…I don’t know I’m just upset”

Jihoon just nods along, listening to his older friends’ worries. He sounds strained. Jihoon isn’t really the guy you go to for relationship advice so he’s kind of curious as to why he’s the one out here. He’s sure Soonyoung has a lot of great friends so why did he call him? Of all people?

“I just…you have some air about you, that’s like indifferent? I don’t know it’s calming being around you, I didn’t want to be with someone that would cry about this whole thing…I just want to forget for a while. Junhui and I are taking a break. He said he needed time away from me or whatever, so I’m staying at some motel and he’s staying home.” The red head rubs his eyes, he’s probably tired.

Jihoon doesn’t really think about it but he tells Soonyoung he can stay over. Thinking about it now, it’s probably a terrible idea to do that. Asking your not-so-ex-crush to come over and live with you for a while while still going through the emotional hardships of having a crush on your best friends is probably not the best solution but, he’s a dumbass.

Soonyoung ends up agreeing, which first of all hurray, a getaway with your crush but also, Fuck. He fucked up so bad.

They end up going to his motel, picking up his things and then going to Jihoon’s place. The blond makes his second mistake then, by suggesting they drink a little. I mean it’s Friday they have no work tomorrow right?

They drink just a couple of beers before they start having really ridiculous conversations about life and death and love. Jihoon tells Soonyoung he’s poly.

“What’s that?”

“You know…I can like more than one person at the same time.” He slurs, he really can’t hold his alcohol.

“Oh…Have you ever had a crush on more than one person at the same time?” The blond only nods.

“Does…that mean you have more than one datemate?” The blond laughs then, at how ridiculous that sounds. His own crush asking him if he’s dating anyone, while he’s crushing on his two best friends.

He lolls his head back on the back of the couch and shakes his head slowly.

“Why not?”

“Have you seen me Soonyoung?”

“Yeah…I have…what about it?” The smaller turns his head lazily, smiling at the innocence of the other. “I’m not exactly boyfriend material.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know…I’m just not.”

It all happens too fast after that, Soonyoung just appears in front of him, they’re really close and suddenly they’re kissing. Everything in the smaller’s mind is screaming for him to stop, to push the older back but instead he just wraps his arms around him and kisses back vigorously. They’re basically making out, and Jihoon isn’t sure how but he ends up on the other’s lap.

It’s all a blur the next morning but when he’s up he knows. He knows they had sex. He knows and dread fills his gut. Shit. He really fucked up.

Soonyoung wakes up a couple hours later, disheveled. He’s wearing pants, with no tops and his hair is a mess. He’s out here, in all his after-sex glory looking fine as hell while Jihoon is on his kitchen table having a not so small breakdown. Did he just get Soonyoung to cheat on his boyfriend? Did he really just do that? Holy shit he’s such a whore. He can’t believe this. Just because they’re on a break doesn’t mean he can just…sleep with him! He should’ve said no but his stupid mind just went for it.

The red head comes up to him and snaps his fingers in front of his eyes to get his attention.

“Hey…you okay?”

Soonyoung up close is even better. He smells really good, and he has marks on his neck. It makes Jihoon flush brightly, damn…is he some kind of animal? Those look really painful…

The smaller doesn’t respond. He looks away, too embarrassed of what he’s done. He’s about to say sorry until he hears a little chuckle coming from the other and then suddenly there’s a hand on his head.

“Hey…you didn’t do anything wrong okay? I wanted it and I know you did too. Don’t blame yourself. I don’t want you to regret it.”

“I don’t…I just…I-“

“Jihoon, I’m telling you it’s fine. Junhui is probably sleeping around too, it’s no big deal, we do this all the time.”

The blonds’ mind short-circuits then. Wait…what?

“Wait what?” He voices aloud.

“Yeah, we sleep around with others during breaks. That’s what they’re usually for. Just do our own things until we can get our own shit together you know? Junhui has a few partners and I usually go to bars to do that.” He says casually, like it wasn’t some big deal.

“Wait what?”

The red head laughs a little and kisses his cheek.

“We’re in a…how do they call it…open relationship. But we keep the sleeping around for defined parts. When we have really bad fights for example”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“Yeah, I am”

“You don’t get jealous?”

“I don’t care, it’s just sex. He’s not falling in love with any of them”

“huh…”

“Anyways, wanna go for round two?” The blond blushes considerably at that and hides his face in his hands. That gets Soonyoung to blush and start kissing the back of Jihoon’s neck with hot kisses, leaving little marks here and there.

Last night had been pretty rough but today was even rougher. Jihoon would have never taken Soonyoung to like it this way but the older was a monster in bed. The measly oversized shirt and his underwear are off faster than he can even say anything and soon enough he’s on the kitchen counter and the older is on top of him.

He really doesn’t want it to be but it’s great. It’s addicting, every second of it. It’s like he’s finally getting a taste of what it could be to be with Soonyoung. Because not only do they do it all the damned time, Soonyoung is an absolute sweetheart with him afterwards. He’s soft and cuddly and he kisses him softly. It’s almost as if they were in a relationship.

Jihoon deludes himself a little there, almost thinking that Soonyoung started liking him. But a week later, he’s out of the picture again, saying Junhui called him to come back home. And just like that he’s out.

The fall is rougher and more violent than Jihoon anticipated.

He feels a little used, not going to lie, and he feels kind of like a side hoe, like a distraction before going back to the main dish. He hates the feeling, so his next best decision is to just get back to work again and overwork himself.

That’s it. That’s the solution.

Isolation wasn’t going to make it, even if it did ward off Cheol and Won for a whole fucking week. What he needs is to keep his mind off of things, plus that way, he won’t have ‘time’ to hang out with anyone. Soonyoung OR the two married idiots.

He does just that.

He clocks in at 7 am, two whole hours before anyone comes in and then clocks out at 11 pm, right after he’s sure Cheol and Won are out of there. He sometimes even stays in his office, just working.

It gets so bad that he even takes work off of other people, seeing as how his work is finished already.

Of course, Cheol and Wonwoo notice. They try to get him to take breaks. He sees their concerned gazes and their little attentions, putting food and water on his desk when he’s not aware. He sees the way Soonyoung acts when he doesn’t respond to his greetings. Jeonghan has tried multiple times to ask what was up but he just ignored all of it.

Jihoon has a lot of problems; maybe he wasn’t as calm and collected as he thought he was.

He’s still at his desk, at 1 pm, when he gets a small tap on the wood in front of his laptop. He lifts his eyes and sees Jeonghan there, and a little Chan clutching the other’s hand. Chan was always a skittish kid so he’s impressed that he wasn’t just crying at all the scary grown-ups staring at him.

“You’ve been ignoring my calls.” Jeonghan says matter of factly.

“What do you want” It’s not really a question.

“I called Seungcheol and he told me you were overworking yourself, I’m here to pick you up and bring you with me for a little get away. You can’t say no, I already bought you a ticket.”

“What.”

“I got you a ticket, we’re going to Japan. You, me, and Channie”

“I don’t want to go”

“You don’t have the choice.”

The blond sighs. There’s no getting out of this. If Jeonghan came all the way from his place just to tell Jihoon this means that he wasn’t going to give up. He looks around, finds Cheol and Wonwoo looking at him from a distance, concern clear on their face, like they’re expecting their plan to fail.

He sighs and gets up, closing his laptop and just when he’s about to take it with him the older places a delicate hand on top of it and shakes his head.

“This is staying here”

“What?! But I have work to finish!”

“Don’t lie to me, I know you finished all your projects days ago.”

“Fine.” He grumbles and gets up, leaving his beloved laptop behind.

He knows what’s going to happen, Jeonghan is going to try anything to get him to talk about it. To open up and tell him everything’s that’s been happening. He really doesn’t want to, he doesn’t want to talk about any of this. It’s ridiculous. All of this is a mess, and he wishes he could be left with his mess alone.

Chan holds onto his hand when they walk out of the offices. He’s always been fond of his uncle, and while Jihoon wasn’t the best with kids, he kind of liked Chan. He was quiet and didn’t cause too much trouble.

“We’re going to your place and picking your things up and then we’re off to the airport.” Jihoon only nods.

They’re about to leave the building when Soonyoung comes in. Jihoon ducks his head down, so that he doesn’t have to talk to the other. He doesn’t see what kind of face Soonyoung is making but he’s guessing it’s something akin to disgust. Probably. At least that’s what he’d do if he were to see the face of the asshole that hasn’t spoken to him in three weeks after actually sleeping with him for an entire week.

He groans, he really doesn’t want to go on that trip.

When they finally arrive in their hotel room, Jeonghan tells them he’s going to go check something out and leaves Chan and Jihoon alone.

The ride to Japan was anticlimactic. Jeonghan was extremely quiet just watching some movie on his laptop while Chan was coloring in his book. Jihoon felt extremely awkward for the entire ride.

Jihoon’s about to suggest they watch TV when Chan interrupts the silence with his small timid voice.

“Uncle Jihoon seems upset…” And honestly, Jihoon isn’t surprised. That kid was way too empathetic. He could always feel when his dad was upset, and Jihoon was close to their family so this was normal.

“Yeah well…stuff happens right?”

“Is Uncle going to be happy again?” He doesn’t answer for a while.

Sure, he’d love to say ‘yeah kid, of course I will’ but, he doesn’t know.

He doesn’t know if he’ll be okay again, he doesn’t know how all of this is going to end, he doesn’t know what to do anymore to make himself happy. He knows he deserves this, he knows this is all his fault and that he messed up big time but, even though, he doesn’t know how to fix everything. Sure it might have seemed like everything was a big joke but honestly?

He might have fallen a little too hard. He might have gotten a little too caught up in all of this. Maybe he should’ve guarded himself more.

He sighs and just shrugs at the kid. What does Chan know anyway? He’s a child. He doesn’t know what it’s like to be in love.

“Uncle should be more honest with what he wants.”

“Huh?”

“Dad always says that. You never say what you want, and then you end up getting hurt because you think you don’t deserve it, because you don’t get it.”

“Your dad talks about me to you like that?” Jihoon almost wants to laugh.

“You didn’t visit for a while…so I wanted to know why” The blond sighs, disappointed that he might’ve hurt the kid. He really feels bad about that, because Chan is a sweetheart and Jeonghan, despite his pushy personality was one of the kindest people he knew.

“Sorry about that Channie…”

“It’s okay, I know you were sad. When I’m sad sometimes I wanna be alone too”

“Channie…you’re a really smart kid you know that?”

“I have the best grades in language class” The kid smiles widely and it gets Jihoon to smile as well. He ruffles the kids’ hair a little which gets him to laugh a little.

“Uncle, it’s okay to be sad, but don’t let others make you sad. Uncle deserves to be happy too”

“You think so?”

The kid gives him a very determined look and nods. The blond laughs a little, that was adorable. It’s always cute when Chan tries to be serious. How serious can you be at 7 anyways?

“So I should say when I want when I want it?” Chan nods.

“You should be honest to others and yourself!” Jihoon smiles softly and nods.

“I guess I’ll try to do that.”

“Good! I’m proud of uncle.”

“I’m proud of you too kid, thank you”

The vacation with Jeonghan and Chan isn’t actually…bad. It’s actually pretty good. He spends a lot of time with them, just enjoying Japan. They eat a whole freaking lot, all kinds of different foods and he even gets Chan a present for helping him out. Who knew kids had some inner wisdom like that?

Jeonghan is also…very respectful of his privacy. Even though he looks like he wants to ask he doesn’t. Not once does he ask about the whole reason Jihoon had been overworking himself.

The blond realizes the older must have some kind of idea why this had happened but still.

Jeonghan was the most curious and intrusive person he knew, not because he was mean or anything but he always cared so much about others that he wanted to know everything happening with his friends.

He remembers how Jeonghan’s ex-husband got frustrated when the older would constantly pester him for information. Jihoon got pretty frustrated too but after a while he just got used to it. He knows Jeonghan, and more importantly he loves Jeonghan.

Not in a romantic way, but if he were to…describe Jeonghan, he’d say they were soul mates, platonic ones.

The blond had been his best friend since childhood. They were always together in middle school, and high school had them in different classes but they still managed to spend a whole lot of time together. When they went to college, they chose their schools together.

When Jeonghan met Mingyu, Jihoon had been so protective of him. He hadn’t liked it one bit that he was dating this hot popular guy. Some guys would say he was jealous but he really wasn’t, he just…never got to trust Mingyu. He wasn’t a bad guy, he just…didn’t like the kid.

And then they went to America and got…married. He remembers how weird it was when they had come back to him, married, with plans of adopting. Jihoon had been unwell for a while. They stayed together for 4 years before getting a divorce.

Jeonghan told him the fights were getting too much and he didn’t want to put Chan in a bad environment. Mingyu visits sometimes but apparently his job in China was very time consuming so he couldn’t visit often.

All this to say, even if he’d been an utter asshole to the older, he really did love him. And Jeonghan knows him, their friendship isn’t the type that’s the kind to talk every single day and talk about everything that happened to them.

There was some kind of…trust. They trusted each other, even if they didn’t talk for a while. When Jihoon needed space, or when Jeonghan was explosively angry, they understood not to bother the other. He wonders why he thought there that Jeonghan would pester him the entire time. If someone knew him, it would be the older. 

It’s their second and last day in Japan. Tonight they’re taking the plane back, but first they’re going to enjoy this time together as much as possible.

They decide to go see an exposition by a famous Japanese artist, Jihoon doesn’t quite remember the name of the dude but Jeonghan really insisted he wanted to see it and Chan was apparently a fan of the guy.

Why did Chan have such…mature taste for a kid?

They arrive at the exhibition center quickly enough and when they’re there they get their tickets and get in. The pieces are unique that’s what he can say. A lot of them were very avant-garde, splashes of colors and collages.

They walk around while Chan starry eyes every single piece in the exhibition. Jeonghan doesn’t seem to care much but the fact that his son was so into every single piece had gotten him to smile the entire time.

There’s a piece that catches the blond’s attention that gets him to stop. The piece is called ‘unfortunate’. It’s a couple, they’re looking at each other very…in love…but they seem to be pulled away from each other. For the first time it seems pretty obvious what the meaning of the work is.

“Caught your attention?” Jeonghan asks, making him jump a little.

“Y-yeah…”

“I think this happens a lot”

“What does?”

The blond points at the piece; the look on his face paint some kind of experience.

“Familiar?”

Jeonghan just nods. They don’t say anything for a while just staring at the painting. Channie is somewhere in the exhibit, probably enthusiastically taking pictures of some of the pieces.

“This makes me think of Mingyu and I”

“…Mingyu? Why?”

“It just…it was never meant to be between us. Even if we loved each other, there were a lot of things that weren’t compatible between us.”

“But…if you loved each other…why did you divorce?” Jeonghan chuckles.

“Love isn’t the only thing you need in a relationship. Love…is like a flame right? You need to feed the fire, or else it dies off. If water gets on, the fire extinguishes and if the wood is too wet the fire can’t be lit up back again.”

“If love is the flame…what’s the wood? And the water?” Jeonghan smiles at him.

“Wood is lots of things, it’s communication, it’s memories, it’s trust…you need so many things to make it work, you can’t just…be in love and expect it to work you know? And water is…let’s say it’s when you mess up big time.”

“Like cheating?”

“Sure…there’s more than just…cheating that can break a relationship though, everyone talks about communication, about being forgiven, but a relationship, it doesn’t live without trusting one another right?”

“Yeah…”

“If you do something…and it breaks the trust…it can be hard to get back in things. It takes time to rebuild that trust and if people don’t do the necessary…usually it ends up in smoke”

They get to Chan eventually and Jihoon stops Jeonghan a bit before they leave the building.

“Is that what happened to you?”

Jeonghan smiles softly and pats the younger’s cheek lightly.

“Mingyu…I loved him, but he messed up on a few things…I wasn’t able to rebuild the fire”

“I see…”

“It doesn’t matter to me now, now I have Chan, and I have you. That’s all that matters to me. Don’t disappear anymore, okay?”

Jihoon nods solemnly. He must’ve worried everyone a lot. He feels really guilty, for making Chan and Jeonghan feel bad. He realizes Wonwoo and Seungcheol must also feel pretty terrible.

“I’m sorry”

“I know”

When they reach Chan, the two hold onto a hand of his each, that’s how they get back to their hotel.

When they get back to Korea, Jihoon calls in to say he’s taking a week off. He can afford that since he’s accumulated quite a few weeks of vacation. He takes that time to just think. He thinks and spends time with Jeonghan and Chan.

He tries to see things logically. He wonders for a bit about what he wants, what he needs, what he can have. He doesn’t have all the answers but he knows enough.

He’s thought of everything well.

He imagined it, he thought of what it would be like to have a relationship with Soonyoung, not that it would happen but he realizes he doesn’t want to be with him, not anymore. Because he doesn’t know if after that week he could trust him again. It was, very weird, because he’d agreed to everything but the fact that Soonyoung could easily do this, without even asking Junhui, he doesn’t know if he can just accept it.

Regardless of their open relationship status, shouldn’t there be…boundaries?

He knows he messed up, and a part of him wants to send Junhui an apology letter. He thinks he’ll call the other at some point, to apologize face to face, and to set things straight.

He then thinks to Seungcheol and Wonwoo, how he must’ve hurt them.

He’s going to have to apologize.

He decides that’s the first thing he’s doing when he gets back. That Sunday night he falls asleep stressed and anxious, wondering if they’ll actually forgive him.

The next morning, his plans are ruined however.

Soonyoung is standing in front of him, he’s not letting him get to the building. Instead he’s pulling him along, to whatever place he’s got in mind, it ends up being some alley way near the office building. There’s like no one at this time of day, so the streets are quiet and they could have definitely done this inside but whatever.

“Did you have fun in Japan?” Jihoon laughs a little, at how ridiculous this is. They both know what they should be discussing about, but Soonyoung is surprisingly awkward when it comes to this kind of conversation.

“Yeah sure, it was okay”

“Good…Good…” The older puts his hands in his pockets, and decides it’s the right time to not look at Jihoon.

For a second, the blond becomes brave enough to just address it.

“Listen Soonyoung, We both know what the issue is. I like you, a lot. But I also know that I can’t be in a relationship with you. I’m sorry if I upset you, but I just didn’t want to fuck up around you anymore than I already had.”

“….I know it’s just, I wish you would have told me” The blond chuckles.

“And what Soonyoung? You would’ve broken up with Junhui? Come up to me and dated me?”

“Maybe I would have.” Jihoon laughs at that. This kid is ridiculous. Seriously? This was just plain hurtful at this point.

“I don’t want to be with you Soonyoung”

“But you said you liked me…?”

“Maybe, but I know we’re not meant to be”

“Isn’t that pretty dramatic?” Jihoon smiles. It does sound pretty dramatic. He doesn’t mean it in a sad way, or maybe a little bit, he’s a lot more…accepting of the reality of things.

Even if he liked Soonyoung, he can’t be with him.

“Why?” Jihoon leans back on the wall and puts his hands behind his back kicking his feet.

“Love isn’t the only thing you need in a relationship to make it work, right?”

“Well yeah, we have to communicate and stuff…”

“There’s not just communication, something else is important, do you know what that is?”

“What?”

“Trust”

“You don’t trust me?”

“Not really no”

“Why not?”

Then and only then does Jihoon actually meet Soonyoung’s eyes; he feels brave suddenly, he feels more courageous. He silently thanks Jeonghan and Chan for those very introspective few days.

“I felt used Soonyoung, you don’t sleep with someone like that when you don’t want them to have feelings for you”

The other has the decency to look guilty.

“Did you tell Junhui of it?”

Soonyoung doesn’t meet his eyes and that’s where he gets his answer, or rather his confirmation that he couldn’t be with Soonyoung, no matter how much he loved him.

“I’m sorry Soonyoung.”

“I am too…”

Before he leaves, he softly pats the taller’s shoulder before smiling.

“Talk to Junhui, yeah?” He leaves before getting any answer.

When the talk is over, Jihoon rushes over to Seungcheol’s office. He almost runs into a couple of people. When he arrives, he’s a little out of breath and his heart is beating widely. He silently prays that they’ll forgive him, hopefully not hate him a lot.

He enters the place and finds Wonwoo and Seungcheol talking to each other, probably about one of their projects. They turn and their eyes widen instantly. Jihoon ducks his head and bows.

“I’m sorry…for ignoring you, and being a complete dick to you guys”

He doesn’t see them smile widely or them rushing to him to hug him, but he feels Wonwoo straighten him and hold him tightly in his arms. Seungcheol is on his other side and he buried his face in Jihoon’s hair. They don’t say a word but Jihoon realizes that they don’t need to. He understands.

After that, he gets back to the original flow of things. He works his normal hours, he hangs out with Jeonghan on Fridays and Sundays and with Seungcheol and Wonwoo on Saturdays. He sees Soonyoung sometimes, but they keep it 100% professional.

It takes him some time but he discovers eventually that the two probably were interested in him with the way they act with him. It’s a lot more subtle than it was before, but it’s pretty obvious.

He doesn’t do anything about it, because he’s not sure first of all, of what to do and second of all, he doesn’t think he’s ready now for a relationship. He thinks maybe they should talk about this whole thing but the two never breach the subject.

Maybe they just want to enjoy flirting with him, so he enjoys it.

He enjoys the little presents, the little compliments, sometimes even cuddles. He enjoys the way they look at him when he’s talking or laughing. He lets himself do the same. He allows himself to just look at them, maybe to signify he’s definitely not against it.

He doesn’t know if it’s actually going anywhere, and for once he doesn’t care. This is fine, even if he likes them, this time he’s careful and he’s doing things for himself.

Even if nothing happens, at least, he enjoyed it.

It lasts for a good six months, neither of the three ever breaching the subject of their attraction. None of them seem to mind though. They enjoy this relationship, whatever it is. Plus, none of them is actually in a state where they can start a relationship.

It’s a Thursday when he gets called in by Seungcheol. The older looks pretty serious when he arrives at his office.

“The boss wants to see you”

“The…boss…?”

Seungcheol just nods and gets up before walking him to the boss’s office. The ‘boss’ is Hong Joshua. The man doesn’t really talk to anyone other than Seungcheol and Wonwoo on their floor. He only talks to department managers, but Jihoon knows that’s because he doesn’t have the time.

The man is professional but friendly. He cares, a lot, about the company.

They arrive at the man’s office and Seungcheol tells his secretary he’s with Jihoon.

“Only Mr. Lee can go in” The elder only nods and pats the blond’s head. For some reason Jihoon isn’t worried going to be fired. He knows he’s one of their best workers.

He enters the office after giving his friend a smile.

“Mr. Hong?”

The man in front of him is furiously looking through papers. He doesn’t really notice Jihoon for a while because he seems so busy trying to find a file. When he finds it he throws a fist in the air and smiles a very sweet smile.

That’s when he finally notices Jihoon.

“Oh! Mr. Lee! You’re here, I’m sorry I didn’t notice you. I was trying to find a very important file you see, our client would have my head if I had lost it” The man laughs softly. Jihoon’s pretty sure the client would apologize to him rather than get angry seeing how powerful of a man he is but he doesn’t comment on that.

“Oh please have a seat, I need to have a talk with you” Jihoon takes a seat on one of the soft couches in front of the older’s desk. Hong spends that time cleaning up his things and putting his files away. When he’s ready he intertwines his fingers and gives the blond a soft smile.

“You see Mr. Lee, we are opening a new branch in Japan. Of course we are currently recruiting a few people to work there and I even sent Mr. Lee Seokmin, I’m sure you know him, there for department management. I heard very good things from Seungcheol and Wonwoo about you, they say you’ve trained quite a few new workers, correct?”

Jihoon nods. He’s not stupid, he knows where this is going.

“How many exactly?”

“I think seven or eight?”

“Excellent! Mr. Lee, how would you like to be training manager of our new branch in Japan? It’s up to you of course, but you’d be in charge of training all of our new employees there up to the level we expect here. You’d also be in charge of employment and testing our new employees. I don’t expect an answer now but,” he takes out a card and hands it to Jihoon “When you’ve made up your mind please tell me, yes?” Jihoon nods dumbly and doesn’t say anything.

He already knows what he’s going to do.

Right when he leaves the office, Seungcheol is still waiting for him, smiling.

He seems to know. The smile is genuine and loving.

“Went well?” Jihoon nods. There’s a little dread, because if he leaves he’d be leaving Seungcheol and Wonwoo here and he doesn’t know how he’d deal with that.

They walk together to their respective offices. The walk is silent except at one moment.

“You should do it, Wonwoo and I will miss you, but we want your best first and foremost. Wonwoo was the one to recommend you to Joshua, so go for it yeah?”

Jihoon nods again, not really saying anything. He remembers Chan’s words. He remembers him telling him to do things for himself.

“Yeah…I guess I will. Thank you”

“Of course, I expect you to show us around when we come to visit you”

“Sure, only if you bring me food from here” Seungcheol laughs, ruffling the younger’s hair.

“Sure we will”

That night, Jihoon calls Jeonghan. The older is absolutely thrilled of the news. He tells him how exciting this change sounds. The blond tells him he’d miss him though, if he went to Japan, but Jeonghan only laughs at that.

‘You think Chan and I will just let you go like that?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘We’re coming with you of course!’

‘Jeonghan what?!’

‘I work at home, it doesn’t matter where I live! Plus I was having some trouble with my new blog posts, I’ll have to fill a lot of papers but no way am I letting you leave us here by ourselves!’ that sounds so much like Jeonghan that Jihoon just laughs. Of course Jeonghan would follow him to another country. What did he even expect!? That lets a sense of relief wash over him.

‘So when are we leaving?’

‘I guess you should start filling those papers tonight’

He lets Jeonghan’s laugh fill his ears.

The next morning, when he arrives at work, he lets himself go to Joshua’s office. He’d rather say it face to face than call the other. He tells the secretary he’d like to talk to Joshua and she tells him to wait while she calls him. Soon enough however, he’s at the older’s office.

“Mr. Lee! What can I do for you?” The man smiles warmly at him.

“I wanted to let you know I’ll take the job”

“Oh! Well that’s wonderful! I’ll take care of the formalities right away then! I’m so glad this is great!”

“Yeah it really is”

A month later, he’s transferred to Japan, Jeonghan and Chan are with him.

Right when he arrives, the company had arranged a place for him to live and he lets Jeonghan and Chan stay with him for a while, so that Jeonghan can find a place to stay at.

He doesn’t have work right away, since his work visa was still in the process of getting accepted. That however, doesn’t stop him from going to the office, just to visit and get to know the place. He walks there, since his apartment isn’t too far. Mr. Hong had told him to go introduce himself to Mr. Lee Seokmin since they would be working together a lot from then on. Jihoon doesn’t disagree.

When he gets to the office, he heads straight for where he was told Seokmin’s office is but apparently the man wasn’t there. There’s a kid in front of the office, skinny and tall, kind of dressed like a model, that tells him Mr. Lee isn’t usually in his office, because he likes working with the employees instead.

Jihoon thinks that’s quite a character.

“You should find him at the meeting room, on the left, he’s usually there.” Jihoon nods and follows the man’s instructions, walking to the meeting room. The place is open view, with glass walls all around. There’s three people in the office, a very tall tanned man is presenting something on a board while the other two listen attentively.

The taller stops when he seems to notice Jihoon and tells the two others to look back, one of them is wearing very strange and bizarre cloth, wearing some sunglasses inside, which by the way, who the hell does that, while the other has a confused face on. All three of them look gorgeous but the one with the small beauty mark on his cheek looks…so beautiful.

Jihoon isn’t ready when the man smiles, because his smile is wide and inviting and every little bit like the sun.

Sunshine man gets up quickly, opening the door for Jihoon and smiling at him.

“How can I help you?”

“I…I’m looking for Mr. Lee Seokmin?” The man manages to grin even wider, brighter and more beautifully than before.

“That’s me, who do I owe the pleasure to?”

“Uh…Lee Jihoon? I’m the new training manager…” Seokmin’s eyes widen in realization and he reaches out to shake Jihoon’s hand, which the other reciprocates. They hold each other for a while, looking directly into the other’s eye.

There’s something in the look Seokmin is giving him. They don’t let go until the very tall man clears his throat behind them and chuckles when they’re startled out of their little dream-like state.

“Can we also introduce ourselves?” Seokmin blushes, but nods, letting the two others introduce themselves.

“Kim Mingyu, I’m head of marketing.” The very tall man says and shakes his hand confidently.

“Chwe Hansol Vernon, call me Vernon. I’m head of finances, I reckon we’ll be working together a lot.” Jihoon nods at that.

Seokmin clears his throat and invites Jihoon inside the meeting room.

“Okay so, we were talking about our first marketing plan, would you mind joining Mr. Lee Jihoon?”

“Uh…Just Jihoon is fine, and sure, I’ll join”

“Oh, well call me Seokmin” Jihoon isn’t sure if it’s very professional to call your boss by their name but Mingyu and Vernon seem to be doing it just fine so he just accepts that. They spend the rest of the afternoon together, even have dinner together. Jihoon can’t ignore Seokmin’s looks towards him, he finds he reciprocates quite a few actually.

He isn’t quite sure what all of this means but, he has a gut feeling this time, it’s not like before.

Third times’ the charm right? 

**Author's Note:**

> I actually wrote this fic a long time ago but never thought of posting it. I actually like it quite a bit so I hope everyone enjoys it as well. I know it's not my usual style and it's not really a traditional au but hopefully! 
> 
> Thank you for anyone who reads this fic!  
Love, Lilas


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